Born in a poor farming
family at Leona (Tx), 1st October 1932, Albert Collins starts at a very young
age to play guitar under the influence of several bluesmen he had the
opportunity to watch, mainly Frankie Lee Sims and Guitar Slim from whom he will
borrow his flamboyant showmanship. After moving in Houston's Third Ward, Albert
will cut his teethes in small clubs and private parties, building a very
personal guitar style: short, precise, clear and high musical notes emerging
generally from a background of heavy basses, his capo fixed very high on the
fretboard with a frequent use of minor scales. One can anyway find on this very
original style (more and more on a Telecaster guitar) some borrowings to the
old traditional Central Texas blues guitar playing, parsimonious but scathing
and very expressive. Later on Albert will add many other influences from
Gatemouth Brown, Fulson or B.B. King.

Albert
Collins starts recording from 1958 for tiny local labels like Hall-Way or
Kangaroo, essentially instrumental riffs which generate an impression of
elegant and "icy"' atmosphere (Freeze,
Defrost, Frosty... ) that will stay as Collins' trademark. Those 45s gain
some small success and allows Collins to have more gigs. But moreover they
raise a lot of interest in Europe, particularly thanks to the British review
Blues Unlimited which feature several raving articles about Collins' blues. Bob
Hite, leader of the rock blues group the Canned Heat, is among those new fans
and he persuades Albert to try his luck in California. Living from now on at
Palo Alto, Collins can play on much popular clubs and scenes like the Fillmore
West. Still thanks to Hite, Albert records a string of albums for the major
label Imperial/ Liberty, once again mostly instrumentals.

Unfortunately,
those LPs don't sell too well and are not even very well received by the new
international blues audience. The 1970's are very harsh for Albert who drifts
from small label to another, playing in Houston and San Francisco clubs. Until
he meets Alligator's wise producer Bruce Iglauer who brings Albert in Chicago
and records him backed by some of the best Chicago sidemen (A.C. Reed, Aron
Burton, Casey Jones), issuing several first rate albums on Bruce's label
Alligator. This time - and despite being reluctant to do it - Collins sings or
talks on several tracks and even he his certainly not Bobby Bland, his whispering
nasal singing style has much effect. Ice
Pickin', Frostbite, Don't lose your cool, Cold snap or Frozen alive are great albums, mixing Texas and Chicago blues
styles for the better.

Albert
then starts to tour around the USA, Japan and particularly Europe where his
constantly great shows win him a strong following among blues and rock fans.
His last records for the Pointblank label are much more turned towards the rock
audience and bring him an important success.

Thank you Gerard for this fine overview of Alberts early work. Jimi Hendrix from way back in 1968 said of Albert Collins "There's one cat I'm still trying to get across to people. He is really good, one of the best guitarists in the world."

I was going to state college and around 1969 got to see Albert Collins perform at the cafeteria. Never forget him walking around the chairs and tables with what seemed like an endless guitar cable. Will never forget that. Thank You. Also a little off the subject saw The Doors perform in the basketball gymnasium.